Our man Gareth Griffiths sat down with the Wales fly-half to talk pre-season preparation, confounding the critics and summer tour heartache in South Africa

An exodus of established names has led to fears in some quarters - including Lions legend Phil Bennett - over the Ospreys' ability to retain their status as Wales' foremost region in this coming season.

But on the day they launched their kit, their Wales fly-half Dan Biggar was in combative mood when asked what he expected his region to produce in the months ahead.

The man who was named the Pro12 Players' Player of the Season last term has pledged that a largely less high profile squad will give everything to prove the doubters wrong.

And Biggar reflected on the pain of coming so close to being part of a Wales side that beat South Africa in the summer...and how Justin Tipuric remains Mr Fitness when it comes to the intense physical work every pre-season demands....

Question: How has pre-season been?

Answer: It has been great. It has been tough what with a new fitness guy coming in and being hard on us, but we needed that, we needed a fresh voice.

You want to be challenged as a player, that's what pre-season is about.

They have said I came back a week early but I am not sure that is the case. If I could have had another week off on a beach in Greece I would have taken it!

I am the type of person who almost sees pre-season as a waste because there is no game at the end of the week. It is almost like training for nothing, in a sense, but I know you have to put in a lot of hard work for the rest of the season.

I don't mind the conditioning side but I much prefer there to be a rugby ball involved.

Q: Is Justin Tipuric still top of the fitness charts?

A: Tipuric is leading everything. In my opinion he’s the best rugby player I’ve ever played with or against. He’s superb.

He plays with No.7 on his back, but he could play with any number on his back.

He has a fantastic challenge in trying to move someone like Sam Warburton out of the way in the Wales team.

But Tips is the type of person who keeps his head down and just concentrates on what goes on the field. He has had a summer off now which will hopefully stand him in good stead and we can reap the rewards.

Q: Given the spine of that pack has disappeared, how much of a gap will that leave and how long will it take to fill?

A: I am not sure how long it will take but when you lose the calibre of player that we have it is going to be a negative.

It will be difficult to replace these sorts of players (Ryan Jones, Richard Hibbard and Ian Evans).

But we have someone like Scott Baldwin fitting in for Richard Hibbard and Scott had a great end of season last year. We have a couple of second-rows coming in alongside Alun Wyn Jones who will play most weeks.

The young boys might surprise a few people.

The likes of Scott Baldwin will surprise a few people according to Dan Biggar

Q: With the European competition having changed and qualification from the league now based on finishing places, will that change players' attitude on the field?

A: No. We go into every game to win and that won’t change this year.

We've underachieved in the last few years, there’s no doubt about that and we should be qualifying for the top four.

The change in how you qualify for Europe makes it a bit more exciting because it makes it more difficult for the Irish teams to rest players a week before the Champions Cup.

It will shake things up a bit. Every game will be a cup final as if you don’t finish in the top six it’s a disappointing season.

Q: You were voted the league's Players' Player of the Year last season, so what did that award mean to you?

A: I was a little bit downbeat picking that up. It was great personally but rugby is not about individuals, it is about the collective and the team.

The Ospreys fell a bit short last season and that's hard to take. Hopefully this season we can build on that a bit more by getting into the play-offs and challenging for silverware.

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